Long Bright River

A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)

By: Liz Moore

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

One of Barack Obama's favorite books of the year

Named a Best Book of 2020 By NPR, Parade, Real Simple, and BuzzFeed

An instant New York Times best seller

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

"[Moore’s] careful balance of the hard-bitten with the heartfelt is what elevates Long Bright River from entertaining page-turner to a book that makes you want to call someone you love." (The New York Times Book Review)

"This is police procedural and a thriller par excellence, one in which the city of Philadelphia itself is a character (think Boston and Mystic River). But it’s also a literary tale narrated by a strong woman with a richly drawn personal life - powerful and genre-defying." (People)

"A thoughtful, powerful novel by a writer who displays enormous compassion for her characters. Long Bright River is an outstanding crime novel.... I absolutely loved it." (Paula Hawkins, number one New York Times best-selling author of The Girl on the Train)

Two sisters travel the same streets, though their lives couldn't be more different. Then one of them goes missing.

In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.

Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit - and her sister - before it's too late.

Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters' childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: A gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.

©2020 Liz Moore (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"An instant sensation and the January pick for Good Morning America’s book club." (Entertainment Weekly)

"Navigates assuredly between the plot twists and big reveals.... Long Bright River is equal parts literary and thrilling." (O: The Oprah Magazine)

"Truly, this is a great literary novel about a city in the age of opioids and two sisters navigating their past. And in the tradition of many great literary thrillers, I promise you, you will not see the end coming." (NPR)

Tragedy of circumstance.

Should have had Philadelphia accents and not New York accents. Compelling story. Makes you think and be grateful for life.

Such a long book.

Too wordy, it took all the suspense away from the story. The narrator would sometimes use an accent with Cassies character and sometimes she would forget. Not a fan of the story or narration.

Must read in 2020

One way to
Learn with out the media . Lost my cousin to drugs this shows that yeah there’s a few bad eggs but there’s awesome cops out there!

Gritty and satisfying

Really well developed characters and I really respected the author’s choices with the plot - nothing felt unrealistic or contrived. I was hooked. I wanted a good crime novel and got that and much more.

Blown Away

I don't generally write reviews, so I'll just say you must read this book. It is so good. I didn't want it to end.

Powerful Book

This is not a comfortable book to read. I believe it to be well-written and well-narrated, however.

But, I don’t do substance abuse. Never have. In fact, one of the major reasons that I, for the most part, stay to myself is that I don’t want to run the risk of being around those who do. No, I am not self-righteous, I just don’t need the drama. And, there is much drama in this book.

I did not know anything about the book or the author. I simply bought it and jumped into the book. Perhaps this book is drawn from real life happenings. If that is the case, then God help us.

I highly recommend this book.

Good Balanced Discussion about Addiction

I read this book after it was recommended by a book club. I can see why this was recommended. The book was an engaging story about opioid addiction but was certainly not preachy. The good guys had their faults exposed while the addicts generally had their faults excused. The story was interesting. It was generally not predictable but the ending was a bit of a disappointment. Still a good read.

Great story !

Great story, realistic characters with real life modern challenges.
And it keeps you guessing !
5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️’s

Hard to stop listening!

Heart breaking story with some real plot twists. You want to believe none of this happens in real life but you know it does. Good book.

Really good

As a Philadelphia resident, I really enjoyed the familiarity- both good and bad in this story. The writing style I found quite unique- I kept feeling like I was reading an autobiography. This was a great read. Highly recommend!